Cod al Cartoccio with Olives, Parsley and Lemon
Whenever I cook fish al cartoccio and I enjoy the tasty fillet's firm perfection, I ask myself, why should I ever cook cod, salmon, trout, or monkfish any other way? If the timing and seasoning is right, the texture will be flaky and the meat infused with whatever aromas you decide to add to the paper bag. Fresh herbs, warming spices, fresh or preserved lemon, olives, capers, thinly sliced vegetables or prosciutto even, there are endless possibilities to turn dinner into an exciting package of flavours. However, when I'm in my Maltese mama Jenny's garden in Msida, I feel the same about barbecued fish: Why should I ever turn on the oven again when there's a nice catch from the fisherman on the table?
When we set up our BBQ in Berlin, there's mainly meat and vegetables on the roast, fresh fish is a rather rare occasion, it stays in my indoor kitchen most of the time. In the city, I never plan my seafood meals, I buy what looks fresh and yummy and then I decide what's going to happen with it. My thick piece of cod from the Atlantic got wrapped in a package, but before I closed it, I added lots of fresh parsley, green olives, white wine, and lemon slices. It was a beautiful Mediterranean lunch, which you should enjoy on a Saturday or Sunday, when there's no more work waiting for you and you can pull a bottle of crisp white wine out of the fridge (without feeling guilty). Just relax and break chunks off an oily loaf of ciabatta to dip into the juices - summer perfection!
Cod al Cartoccio with Olives, Parsley and Lemon
Serves 2 for lunch
olive oil
cod fillet (or any firm, white fish, such as monkfish or halibut), preferably a thick center piece, about 350-400g / 12-14 ounces
fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 medium bunch
green olives, with pits, 14
organic lemon, rinsed and scrubbed, 2 slices
white wine 2 tablespoons
freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 tablespoon
fine sea salt
ground pepper
Set the oven to 200°C / 400°F (convection setting).
Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper large enough to wrap the fish and lay them on top of each other. Brush the top sheet with olive oil, place all but 1 sprig of the parsley in the middle, and lay the cod on top. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put the remaining parsley on top of the fillet and finish it off with the lemon slices. Arrange the olives around the fish. Whisk the wine with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the lemon juice and pour over the fish. To close the package, fold the sides over, twist both ends of the parchment paper, and fold the top twice so it’s well sealed. Place the parchment package in a baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. If you can flake the fish gently with a fork, it’s done. If not, close the parchment again and continue baking for up to 5 minutes. The cooking time can vary depending on the fillet's thickness, but mind that you don’t overcook it.
Cumin Cinnamon Sweet Potato with Candied Lemon and Olives
The leaves on the vine in front of my kitchen window are changing their color and start falling as soon as the wind picks up. It's slowly getting colder in Berlin, my wool sweaters replaced my t-shirts and it hasn't taken long for cozy dishes to be back on my mind. Stews and pies, roasts and cookies - my cooking and baking is getting ready for the cold season. I bought the first quince for my spice and fruit flavoured brandy that I'll soon need for all those minced pies and fruit cakes. A pile of small lemons from my kitchen counter has been squeezed into a jar with lots of Mr. Cini's sea salt to preserve and soften them for aromatic lamb shanks. My mood leaves no doubt that I'm ready for winter to come.
I'll still wait a few more days before indulging in the bright orange pleasures of pumpkins, for now I'll enjoy the autumny warmth of sweet potatoes, chopped into chunks and sautéed in fragrant cumin and cinnamon oil. Red onions softened in their velvety juices, plump Kalamata olives stirred in at the end and a few parsley leaves sprinkled on top to wave goodbye to summer. I finished it off with a sweet and tart topping, candied lemon peel tends to stick to your teeth a little but it tastes so good in this composition that I'm willing to compromise.
Cumin Cinnamon Sweet Potato with Candied Lemon and Olives
Serves 2
olive oil
ground cumin 1 teaspoon
ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon
medium red onions, cut in half and quartered, 2
sweet potato, peeled, quartered and cut into 1 1/2 cm / 1/2" slices, 430g (15 ounces)
freshly squeezed orange juice 3 tablespoons
white wine 3 tablespoons
water 6 tablespoons
coarse sea salt
black peppercorns, crushed in a mortar
lemon zest 1 heaping teaspoon
Kalamata olives 6
a few parsley leaves
For the candied lemon peel
long, wide strips of lemon, peeled off the fruit with a vegetable peeler, 5 (without the white pith)
freshly squeezed lemon juice 4 tablespoons
water 4 tablespoons
granulated sugar 3 tablespoons
For the candied peel, bring the strips of lemon peel, juice, water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes until golden and soft but not dark. Set aside.
Heat a generous splash of olive oil with the cumin and cinnamon in a heavy pan. When the pan is hot, add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat until soft, stir once in a while and mind that they don't turn dark. Add the sweet potato, stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze with the orange juice, pour in the wine and water and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the zest and turn the temperature down to a medium-low. Close the pan with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are just soft but still in shape. Stir in the olives and season to taste, take the pan off the heat, cover and let everything sit for a few minutes.
If the candied peel became hard, put the saucepan back on the heat to soften them. Divide the sweet potatoes between the plates, sprinkle with crushed pepper, candied peel and fresh parsley.
Spicy Cumin Fennel Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Ricotta and Lemon
A few days after we got home from our summer holidays, the two of us met in the kitchen late in the evening, not sure what to make for dinner. Usually, a night like this calls for pasta and a simple tomato sauce, but we were in the mood for more, we wanted some spices on our plates! A quick look in the fridge offered a bunch of cherry tomatoes, fresh ricotta and a jar full of my Moroccan preserved lemons. The parsley on the kitchen counter looked like it wouldn't last much longer but the leaves were still crisp and green. We pulled out the mortar and the pan, heated up some olive oil and crushed a spoonful of black peppercorns and our Maltese fennel seeds. We cooked the spices with a pinch of cumin in the oil for just a minute to unfold their aromas. When their peppery smell filled the whole kitchen, we added the chopped lemons and cherry tomatoes. After 3 minutes it was all done, ready to be mixed with the spaghetti, some lumps of ricotta and the fresh parsley leaves.
It was great, spicy and fragrant, a delicious mixture of the Italian and Arabic cuisine. Unfortunately, we had forgotten about this dinner. It was quite late, we were tired and we went to bed straight after we savored this meal. Weeks later, I remembered our spontaneous cooking session but it took me a while to recapture the recipe. So here it is, we cooked it again and loved it just as much!
Spicy Cumin Fennel Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Ricotta and Lemon
For 2 people you need
spaghetti 200g / 7 ounces
cherry tomatoes, cut in half or quartered, 400g / 14 ounces
ricotta 125g / 4.5 ounces
Moroccan preserved lemon, chopped, 1/4 or the zest of 1/2 lemon
black peppercorns, lightly crushed in a mortar, 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons (depending on the spiciness you want to achieve)
fennel seeds, lightly crushed in a mortar, 1 teaspoon
cumin, a generous pinch
salt
olive oil
parsley, the leaves of 1/2 small bunch
Cook the pasta al dente in lots of salted water.
In a large, heavy pan, heat a splash of olive oil and cook the spices on medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the lemon (preserved or zest) and cook for a few seconds before you stir in the tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes for 1-2 minutes until they start to soften and take the pan off the heat. Season with salt, mix in the spaghetti and top with ricotta and parsley.
La Ratte Potatoes with Roast Lemon Peel, Olives and Parsley
A few weeks ago my boyfriend came up with a great chicken and red cabbage sandwich idea with an orange infused olive oil. He brushed the inside of the bread with this flavoured oil that we created by heating up a dish of olive oil and orange peel in the oven. The aromatic oil was wonderfully flavoured but the crisp citrus peel impressed me just as much! Since then I've used roast lemon and orange peel for my pasta, salads, couscous and risottos. The thin strips just need a few minutes to become golden crisps packed with flavour so it's important to take them out at the right moment. If you leave them in the oven for too long, they become bitter, and this can happen within seconds!
I have many ideas in my mind that feature both the wonderful oil and the crunchy strips, today's recipe combines roast lemon peel with potatoes, parsley and black olives to make a warm salad, great for lunch or as a side dish. I use the lemon flavoured olive oil as a dressing and the peel as a crunchy topping. It just needed some flaky sea salt for seasoning and it was done! I often use the French La Ratte potatoes for for these kind of potato salads, their taste is nutty and buttery and the skin is very thin. I don't even peel them, I just clean them with a vegetable brush and cut them in half when they are cooked.
La Ratte Potatoes with Roast Lemon Peel, Olives and Parsley
For 2-4 people you need
olive oil 3 tablespoons
lemon peel, cut into pieces, 6 long strips
La Ratte potatoes, cooked, (unpeeled) and cut in half, 14
fresh parsley leaves, a handful
black olives 12
sea salt
Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F (fan-asssited oven).
Put the olive oil and lemon peel in a baking dish and cook for 6 minutes or until the peel is golden and crisp.
Spread the potatoes on plates and mix them with the lemon infused olive oil. Sprinkle them with parsley, olives, roast lemon peel and salt and serve either warm or cold.
Crisp Whitebait with Parsley
This was one of our first lunches when we arrived in Malta, but I had forgotten about it: golden fried whitebait sprinkled with parsley! For years I didn't touch this dish as I didn't like the idea of frying little fish in one piece until I tried it in a Portuguese restaurant and I loved it. That dinner changed my mind!
The fish has a fine taste, like the sea, so it shouldn't be mixed with too many flavours. I like to cook a big batch of them and serve them on a big plate, with a salad and a glass of white wine on the side. This is perfect as an easy lunch and it brings a Mediterranean feeling to the table! Close your eyes, smell the aroma of the cooked fish and imagine that you're sitting in a restaurant close to the sea!
When I cook whitebait (a big handful), I like to dust them lightly with flour, dip them in a beaten egg and fry them in 1 tablespoon of butter mixed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. They just need 3-4 minutes in the pan to turn golden brown and crisp. I sprinkle them with a heaped tablespoon of chopped parsley and a tiny bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice, that's it!
Sea Bream with Mint and Parsley on Onion and Tomato
A whole fish cooked in one piece is ideal to stuff with herbs, vegetables or spices. Be it baked in the oven or on the grill, the meat doesn't dry out and absorbs all the strong aromas, it's my favourite way to cook it. It's also less fragile to handle, a fact that always puts me off when I think of flipping over thin fish fillets in a pan.
When I cook a whole fish in the oven I simply follow my nose, at one point the air is filled with the smell of cooked fish and that's the sign for me to check it. I make a short cut along the middle line on one side to see if I can lift the fillet off the bone. Most of the time this works, but don't worry I will give you a time you can set for this sea bream recipe!
I stuffed the bream with parsley and mint and put it on a bed of onion, tomato and garlic, a splash of white wine on top and 20 minutes later my kitchen was filled with the most wonderful aroma. I could trust my rule, the meat was done to perfection, firm and delicious!
Baked Sea Bream with Mint and Parsley on Onion and Tomato
For 2 people you need
a whole sea bream 450g / 16 ounces (or 2 small ones but mind the shorter cooking time)
small onion, cut into thin slices, 1
medium tomato, 1/2 diced and 1/2 cut into thin slices, 1
garlic, sliced, 2 cloves
parsley, the leaves of a small bunch
mint 4 big leaves
white wine, around a glass
olive oil
salt and pepper
Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F and brush the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil.
Spread half of the onions and garlic and the sliced tomatoes in the baking dish.
Season the fish with salt and pepper on the inside and stuff it with the parsley, 3 mint leaves, the diced tomatoes and half of the onions and garlic. Lay the fish on top of the vegetables, cover with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and put 1 mint leaf on top. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with white wine and bake for 20 minutes until the fish is cooked through and you can lift the fillets off the bones.
Serve with ciabatta bread or potatoes - and a glass of white wine for me!
Spaghetti with Anchovy Pangrattato, Lemon and Parsley
La dolce vita, I can hear it calling me! I need a holiday, some Mediterranean vibes, the sea that slows down my pace! For now I only have my beloved Mediterranean food but there's only a month between me and a little dolce far niente! Our flights are booked and in four weeks we will be heading South, but my mind is already there, in Malta, our beautiful rock in the Mediterranean Sea. I find myself daydreaming about all the things I will do and eat.
I have a plan, I will enjoy the sea and spend lots of time with our friends and family as I always do but I will also share some of my culinary hotspots with you. Over the years, I found so many delicious restaurants, small producers of olive oil, cheese, bakeries, winemakers and my salt pans in Gozo of course. I met many people who are as passionate about eating and cooking as I am, chefs and Maltese Mamas who have treated their families to years of the most delicious traditional dishes. Soon, I will meet these food lovers, we will talk about food, I will watch them cook and share their recipes with you on the blog. I'm very excited and I can't wait to show you this amazing island, its food and natural beauty!
For now I can only enjoy all the lovely dishes that feed my memories and fit my daydreams, like spaghetti with pangrattato (meaning grated bread in Italian), crisp breadcrumbs fried with anchovies and garlic! I sprinkle it with freshly squeezed lemon juice, crushed black pepper and parsley, a summer meal which couldn't be quicker and easier!
Spaghetti with Anchovy Pangrattato, Lemon and Parsley
For 2 people you need
spaghetti 200g / 7 ounces
dry breadcrumbs 5 heaping tablespoons (if you have some stale white bread left put it in a food processor and turn into breadcrumbs)
anchovies, rinsed, dried and finely chopped, 2-3 big fillets (use 3 if you like a strong fish taste)
garlic, finely chopped, 2 cloves
parsley, finely chopped 1 1/2 tablespoons
lemon 1/2, to drizzle over the pasta
black peppercorns, crushed coarsely
salt
olive oil for frying
Cook the pasta in lots of salted water al dente.
In a heavy pan, heat a splash of olive oil and fry the garlic on a medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the anchovies and fry for a few seconds before you pour in a little more oil, add the breadcrumbs and fry until golden brown and crisp. Divide the spaghetti and the pangrattato between 2 plates and sprinkle with lemon juice, black pepper and parsley. Season with salt, carefully as the anchovies are very salty.
Feta and Tomato stuffed Bell Pepper with Mint
The smell of fresh mint is still in my nose! I spent last weekend at my mother's house in the countryside, more precisely in her garden and kitchen and the smell of herbs and flowers was always around us. She is one of those lucky people who has a green thumb and lots of space to prove it. The strong sun and heavy rain of the past days turned her garden into a blossoming green world with various shades of red, pink, violet and yellow. Whenever I passed her flower and vegetable beds a cloud of roses, thyme, lavender and mint followed me. This was aroma heaven and the the strong mint was a very persistent companion! My mother's vegetable garden made me jealous, artichokes, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, peas and many more, she can honestly compete with my market stands at home! Her herbs grow like weeds, some of them have had their roots in this ground for almost twenty years.
The path from her garden to the kitchen isn't long and we brought lots of these goods inside the house in the past days. We cooked big artichokes with three different kinds of dips, a delicious, light pasta recipe with tomatoes and bell pepper and fish soup. On the sweet side, we had strawberry tarts, ice cream in espresso and I also got to love a great summery aperitif with Limoncello, white wine, lemon rind and mint, needless to say that it was all wonderful and I will write more about it in the coming days.
Back to the fresh mint, here is a recipe so quick to prepare, it looks beautiful and combines a few ingredients which I love for my cooking in summer, bell pepper stuffed with feta, tomatoes, parsley and mint. After twenty minutes in the oven it's done, having four or ten people to feed doesn't make much of a difference, this is a real crowd pleaser!
Feta and Tomato stuffed Bell Pepper with Mint
For 4 people you need
red bell peppers 4
feta cheese, 250g / 9 ounces
medium tomatoes, chopped, 3
parsley, chopped, 3 heaping tablespoons
mint, chopped, 8-10 big leaves
salt and pepper
Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F.
Cut the top off the bell pepper and set aside. Mix the feta, tomatoes and herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste. Fill the bell pepper with the cheese mixture, close the fruit with the lid and put in a baking dish. Bake for 17 minutes, the bell pepper should be al dente.
Kalamata Olive and Cottage Cheese Sandwich
Creamy cottage cheese mixed with dark purple Kalamata olives, garlic, herbs, Balsamico vinegar, that's what I had in mind when I started my sandwich preparations. My plan changed abruptly as soon as I stirred the chopped olives into the crumbly cottage cheese, I stopped turning the spoon before the oily black mixture blended into the creamy white, the contrast looked so beautiful! I tried some of this puristic spread and I was so impressed by its intensity and simplicity that I dropped everything. This combination is too good, Kalamata olives (to me, they are the best black olives in the world!) plus cottage cheese, no distraction, no further addition, just a few slices of fresh baguette and one parsley leaf on top, that's all it needs! This is the quickest and most simple recipe I've made so far for my Sandwich Wednesday and it's already one of my favourite sandwiches!
If you're looking for a quick snack, a picnic treat, an easy dinner or just a nibble with some crackers, pull out some cottage cheese (200g / 7 ounces) and mix briefly with 50g / 2 ounces (or more) of chopped Kalamata olives. You could use other black olives as well but the large Greek fruits from the Peloponnese region have a wonderful aroma, exactly what you need if you mix only two ingredients. I didn't want to over mix it, I only stirred it twice before I spread the cheese on tiny slices of baguette. The green fleshy parsley leaves on top finished it off and added a fresh taste to this composition. I loved it so much that I ate one slice after the other, it was just enough for 2!
A warm Salad with Artichokes in Vermouth
Artichokes seem to follow me in the past few weeks, even when I don't buy them they end up in my kitchen. I got a bag full of beautiful purple baby artichokes as a gift, the tiniest I've ever seen. A friend of mine had bought too many and knowing that I use everything that finds its way into my space she was happy to pass them over to me. I had already made plans for dinner but the vegetables couldn't wait a day longer. When I looked at them, a warm salad came to my mind, a little snack in between. I imagined them sautéed and deglazed with vermouth and some parsley on top, so I brought out my pan and started the cooker.
As a starter for 4 you need 6 small baby artichokes. Cut off the artichoke stem if it’s too woody and pluck the hard outer leaves. Cut the artichoke’s tip off (1/3 – 1/2 of the artichoke), quarter them and scoop out the hairy choke. Keep the prepared artichokes in a bowl of cold water and the juice of half a lemon while you’re finishing the rest.
Sautée the prepared artichokes in a large heavy pan in a dash of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter for about 5 minutes together with 1 thinly sliced clove of garlic. Deglaze with 75ml / 2.5 ounces of vermouth and season with salt and pepper. Add 75ml / 2.5 ounces of water and 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and let them simmer on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until al dente. Sprinkle with roughly chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
A Fried Egg and Bacon Sandwich with Tarragon and Parsley
One morning we decided to "decorate" our fried eggs with fresh herbs and it became a morning classic in our kitchen. It looks really pretty and tastes even better. The variations are endless and change all the time depending on the herbs growing in our terracotta pots, and there are plenty at the moment! Usually the small plants don't survive the cold winter, the roots aren't really as protected as they should be. I tried to keep the herbs inside on my kitchen window sill during the cold season but they tend to suffer from bugs and mildew, so I gave up. I wish them the best of luck, protect them with some leaves and hope for the best. To my surprise, a fragile, skinny tarragon plant, an offshoot which I dug out of my mother's herb garden managed to bear the cold and frost and it's shining again in its recaptured bloom and beauty. I love its strong aroma which reminds me a bit of aniseed.
For my fried eggs, I picked a few of the tarragon's long leaves, about 6 slim ones for each egg, and some crunchy parsley, the Italian one with big flat leaves. The combination works well, I just went easy on the parsley, 2-3 leaves per egg were enough as it can easily be too overpowering. I fried the eggs in a little butter on medium heat in a non-stick pan, put the herbs gently on top of the liquid egg whites and yolks and covered the pan with a big lid until the whites turned solid. I kept the egg yolk soft as I wanted it to soak into the hearty bread when I cut it open. To finish off my sandwich, I fried 3 slices of bacon golden brown and crisp and put a few slices of my dark spelt bread into the pan as well. When you roast the bread in the fatty juices, just in the end for a minute or two, it becomes a bit crunchy and is infused with the meaty aroma. I didn't add any salt, just crushed black pepper, thanks to the strong bacon!
Sicilian Spaghetti with Bottarga di Tonno
Marzamemi! This is the name of a picturesque fishing village in southern Sicily in the Syracuse region. It's right by the sea, with two churches - an old and a new one - both dedicated to the village's patron San Franceso built around the historic piazza which is, as in every Mediterranean village, the lively centre especially at night.
Two years ago we spent an evening in Marzamemi, strolled through the narrow alleys, between the old limestone houses where fishermen used to live. We passed a beautiful artisan market which was still open at night and enjoyed the sight of all the restaurants which had placed their long tables outside in the piazza where families already filled the air with laughter and the delicious smell of seafood. We couldn't wait any longer to join them and went straight to the restaurant at the sea where our table was waiting for us, but as we wanted to sit down we spotted an old storehouse with a big, open gate and people walking in and out. Curiosity was still stronger than our appetite, so we took a look.
We went inside a huge hall piled high with fish products, mainly made of bluefin tuna but also anchovies, sardines, mackerel, and swordfish. I discovered food I had never seen before, tuna salami for example, I had to buy it! It tasted interesting, salty, something I would have to eat a few times and try out a few combinations to get used to it. They also sold the famous Bottarga di Tonno, the dried roe pouch of bluefin tuna. If it's in one piece, you slice it thinly over spaghetti, grated you sprinkle it over a quick pasta dish. Its taste is distinct and salty, it comes from a fish with a strong flavour and you can taste it!
I haven't eaten it since my last visit to Sicily so I was happy to finally open a jar of grated Bottarga di Tonno again and mix it with my pasta. I like to add some lemon (juice and zest), garlic, parsley and coarsely crushed black pepper.
Spaghetti with Bottarga di Tonno, Lemon and Parsley
For this meal I suggest you warm up the plates in the oven.
For 2 people you need
spaghetti 200g / 7 ounces
olive oil 6 tablespoons
garlic, cut in half, 2 cloves
grated Bottarga di Tonno 4-6 heaping teaspoons
freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 tablespoon
lemon zest 2 teaspoon
fresh parsley, chopped, 4 heaped tablespoons
salt and coarsely crushed black peppercorns
Cook the pasta in lots of salted water till al dente.
Heat up the oil in a sauce pan, add the garlic and take the pan off the heat, let it infuse the oil for a couple minutes and add the lemon juice.
After the pasta is mixed with the warm oil and divided between the plates, sprinkle with parsley, lemon zest, pepper and salt and add the bottarga di tonno to taste.
Broccoli Pesto with Spaghetti and Sun-dried Tomatoes
Finally pesto! I love it, bunches of basil, parsley, chopped green or black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, garlic, anchovies mixed with olive oil, nuts or cheese. There are endless possibilities to bring one of the most satisfying meals onto the table, pasta with pesto. It's so simple yet so special! When I make pesto I just follow my mood and appetite, picking what the kitchen herbs on my window sill offer and mixing it together with the Mediterranean fruits and vegetables preserved in salt or oil I keep in jars in my fridge. Sometimes I mix fresh vegetables in as well, like green asparagus or broccoli.
Today is a broccoli day! I cook it al dente, put some of it in a blender and mix it with parsley, ginger, garlic, anchovy, lemon juice and olive oil. Some of the water used to cook the broccoli stirred in makes the pesto nice and smooth, it's lighter than using just olive oil. When the warm spaghetti has been mixed with the broccoli pesto, I sprinkle some broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes and red chili on top. There are lots of different flavours in this pesto but they blend in perfectly and allow the broccoli to show its fresh side.
Broccoli Pesto with Spaghetti and Sun-dried Tomatoes
For this meal it's best to warm the plates in a 75°C / 165°F warm oven for a few minutes. I prepare them while the pasta is cooking.
For 4 people you need
spaghetti 400g / 14 ounces
broccoli, florets and the soft part of the stem, 450g / 16 ounces
water used to cook the broccoli 50ml
sun-dried tomatoes, cooked in a little water for 2 minutes to wash off the salt, dried and chopped, 1 1/2, for the topping
water used to cook the sun-dried tomatoes, 3 tablespoons
fresh parsley, chopped, 3 heaping tablespoons
garlic, crushed, 1 big clove
ginger, grated, 1/2 teaspoon
anchovy preserved in salt (optionally), rinsed and dried, 1
lemon juice 2 teaspoons
olive oil 3 tablespoons
salt and pepper
fresh red chili, chopped, 1, for the topping
In a large pot, bring water to the boil, add some salt and cook the broccoli al dente. Keep 1/3 of the cooked florets, cut into bite sized pieces and set aside.
Cook the spaghetti al dente.
Put the rest of the broccoli (florets and stem cut into pieces) in a blender and mix together with some of the water used to cook the broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes. Add the parsley, garlic, ginger, anchovy, lemon juice, olive oil and mix well. Season the pesto with salt and pepper but keep in mind that the tomatoes used for the topping will add some saltiness as well.
Arrange the spaghetti and the pesto on big plates and sprinkle with the chopped tomatoes, pieces of broccoli, chili and some more black pepper.
A Sandwich with Lemon Lentil Mousse and Roast Garlic
The legume section in my pantry is overflowing, it's time to empty some lentil boxes! My plan is to make a smooth lentil mousse enhanced with parsley, lemon and garlic, to spread on sandwiches and to eat together with raw vegetable sticks. I prepare a big bowl as we'll have my brother in law over for the next couple of days. When guests stay with us, I like to have some food ready in the fridge, easy nibbles and snacks that everyone can enjoy whenever they feel like, but first I'll need the mousse for my Sandwich Wednesday.
Besides the lemon and parsley aromas, the garlic plays an important role. I don't leave it plain and raw, I roast it, golden and sticky, almost sweet. I bake big, fleshy cloves in their skin and after 10 minutes in the oven they turn into a delicious paste. They taste so good that I throw a couple more into the oven, as an extra topping. Squeezed with a fork I lay the warm and juicy garlic on top of the lentil spread. This is such a great combination, the nuttiness of legumes together with the sourness of the lemon juice and zest, the aromatic parsley and the sweet and spicy garlic. I've made a few variations on this lentil mousse already, but this one is the freshest!
Lemony Parsley Lentil Mousse and Roast Garlic on a Sandwich
For the sandwiches you need white buns with a nice crust, crisp and crunchy. I made lots of mousse, it stays fresh for a few days. It's also great as finger food for parties, on slices of bread or served together with vegetable sticks!
lentils 350g / 12.5 ounces (I use a small type which doesn’t need to soak overnight)
bay leaf 1
fresh parsley, chopped, the leaves of a medium bunch plus more for the topping
freshly squeezed lemon juice 5 tablespoons
lemon zest 3 teaspoons plus more for the topping
olive oil 50ml
salt 2 1/2 teaspoons
black pepper
garlic, 12 big cloves in their skin (6 for the mousse, 6 for the topping)
Cook the lentils in 1 liter of water together with the bay leaf for 20 minutes or until they are done. Don’t season with salt yet or the lentils will stay hard. Take out the bay leaf and drain the lentils.
Set the oven to 220°C / 430°F (I used the Rotitherm roasting setting) and roast the cloves of garlic in their skin for 12 minutes or until they are soft. Peel the garlic and squeeze with a fork.
Mix the lentils in a blender to a smooth paste together with the parsley, lemon juice and zest, olive oil and half of the garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
For the sandwiches, cut the buns in half, spread the lentil mousse on one side and lay 1 or 2 squeezed, roast garlic on top. Sprinkle with some parsley and lemon zest and close the bun.
Homemade Sausage with Herbs and Spices and Baked Fennel with Parmesan
Our last visitors from Malta brought some of my favourite sausages along, coarse Maltese pork sausage stuffed with lots of spices and garlic. The kind that you can use to spice up a whole pot of soup. When it comes to sausage that's exactly what I like! When I'm in Malta I fry them for breakfast without their skin and cut in half, like a burger, some fried zucchini (qarabaghli in Maltese) on the side and and I'm prepared for a day on the beach.
The gift from Malta inspired me to make my own sausages, but without skin from the start. I make mine like burgers without egg and bread (apart from a tablespoon of breadcrumbs) and with pork and beef unlike the original. Most importantly they are enhanced with plenty of rosemary, parsley, coriander and fennel seeds (luckily I still have some left from Malta to keep it even more authentic) and my coarse sea salt from Mr. Cini's salt pans in Gozo, Malta's sister island. Spices and salt from other parts of the world will work as well, I just like to add the nice memories and to me, they taste best. As fennel already has such an importance in this meal I add the bulbs as well, baked in the oven with onions, garlic and parmesan. It's the right addition to my Mediterranean sausages which I fry first before I deglaze them with a splash of white wine. This makes a thick sauce of juices, delicious together with the meat and the vegetable.
Homemade Sausage with Herbs and Spices and Baked Fennel with Parmesan
This makes a dinner for 3-4.
For the sausage
minced beef 300g / 10.5 ounces
minced pork 300g / 10.5 ounces
dry breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon
fresh parsley, chopped, a medium bunch
fresh rosemary, chopped roughly, 1 teaspoon
coriander seeds, ground in a mortar, 1 tablespoon
fennel seeds, ground in a mortar, 3/4 tablespoon
black peppercorns, ground in a mortar (coarsely), 1 tablespoon
garlic, crushed, 2 large cloves
coarse sea salt 1 1/2 teaspoons
white wine for deglazing
olive oil for frying
Mix the ingredients well and shape thick sausages. Heat some olive oil in a large cast iron (or heavy) pan and fry the sausages on medium heat until all sides are golden brown. Deglaze the sausages with a splash of wine so that the bottom of your pan is covered, the liquid shouldn't evaporate completely. Turn down the heat, scrape the juices off and close the pan with a lid for 1-2 minutes until the sausages are done inside.
For the baked fennel
large bulbs of fennel, quartered and blanched together with 1/2 lemon for 8 minutes, 2 bulbs (keep the green of the fennel bulbs uncooked and chopped for the topping)
medium onions, chopped, 2
garlic, crushed, 2 cloves
olive oil
Parmesan, grated, 3 tablespoons (you can add more if you like)
salt and black pepper
Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F (I used the Rotitherm roasting setting) and brush a medium sized baking dish with olive oil.
Fry the onion and garlic in a little oil on medium heat until golden brown.
Put the fennel in the baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil and the green of the fennel. Season with salt and pepper, add the fried onions and garlic and cover with parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and crisp.
Butter Bean and Fennel Soup
It's time for soup! The colder it gets the more I feel like food that is up-lefting and soul-warming. Something that makes me feel strong and prepares me for the cold, dark months ahead of me. Although I love winter, the snow, even the cold, when you get cosy inside, slow down and relax, it's important to treat yourself to the right food to renew your body and mind.
I'm in the mood for a thick soup, smooth but light - like my Minestrone with big butter beans and fennel with some parsley and black olives sprinkled on top. The texture is velvety and it tastes a bit sweet. Today I add a piece of bacon to it as I feel like something deeper in taste. Usually I cook the vegetarian version, I don't prefer one over the other, both are nice winter treats!
Butter Bean and Fennel Soup
Keep in mind that you have to soak the dried beans in water overnight. I like to cook soups in bigger batches to store some in the freezer - great for busy days. This recipe is for 4 people, sometimes I even double the amount.
dried butter beans or Cannellini beans, soaked in cold water overnight, 250g / 9 ounces
fennel, rinsed, cut in thin slices, 300g / 10.5 ounces
celery stalk, cut in cubes, 1
onion, cut in cubes, 1
broth or water, around 1500 ml
optional: a piece of bacon, 40g / 1.5 ounces
garlic, crushed, 1 clove
bay leaf, 1
salt and pepper
olive oil for frying
parsley, chopped, for the topping, 2 tablespoons
black olives, chopped, for the topping, 4
good olive oil, for the topping
Heat some oil in a large pot. Fry the onion, celery, garlic and bacon (left in one piece) for a few minutes. Add the fennel, take the beans out of the water and put them into the pot as well. Fill with broth, add the bay leaf and close with a lid. Don't season with salt before the beans are done or they won't become soft. Cook for 30 minutes or until the beans are soft. Depending on the bean's texture it may take another 30 minutes. Mine needed 60 minutes today but I must admit that I found them in a dark corner of my shelf.
When the beans are done, take out half of the vegetables (cooked beans and fennel) and put them to the side. Mix the other half of the vegetables together with the liquid in a blender and season with salt and pepper. Put everything back into the pot together with the remaining vegetables. When you arrange the soup in soup bowls sprinkle with olives and parsley and drizzle your best olive oil on top.